Linkopi @ Linköping

school had to start some day but the holiday still goes on! hah. school here is very much different from NUS. over here, classes are conducted in small group lectures in classrooms. most of the courses only have like 20 or less people in it so the lectures are very much like secondary school lessons where you can just stop the prof at any point in time to ask questions. It's better than NUS i feel..at least you have to listen. Also, their assessment methods are different. The thing that ultimately counts is the final exams. everything else is optional. but there are quizzes and assignments during the term which will contribue to your final exam marks. meaning it's like a bonus instead of a must. you could choose to forgo the bonuses and just work super hard for the final exams or just do the bonuses and just get 2 marks in the exams to pass it.

i'm doing nanotechnology, which is quite fun 'coz the lecturer is good and the topic is interesting, numerical methods which is basically matrices which sux but the lecturer is nice too and cryptology which is weird and more like a programming course. the guy to girl ratio is pretty much like that in NUS engin. i'm the only girl in my maths class and the crypto class has like 3 or 4 girls out of a class of 50 or 60. only the nano class is quite normal since it isn't very technical.

most of these classes are master courses and alot of the students are international students. i met a really funny italian guy in maths class along with a german and a belgium. there are 2 thai girls in my nano class who are really nice and amazed that i can speak a little little bit of thai to them. there's also an american guy, i think an aussie guy, bangladeshi, french, and some more i have yet to discover. my lab partner for crypto is a slovakian guy with long hair who parties everynight, just like the italian who drinks espresso at every break. it's really cool to meet people from all over the world. i'll post some photos of them soon.

school aside, we're coping pretty well here, cooking our own meals almost everyday since food here is super ex but the supermarket has some fresh and cheap food like button mushrooms and carrots and brocolli. i've eaten more pick and mix candy in this week than i have in the past few years. it's cheap and good!

shopping here is pretty good too. the clothes here are more classy looking and fashionable than those in singapore. and the prices are about the same or cheaper. the stuff in the stores look like a combination of zara, mango and topshop at giordano prices. haha..but the amount of clothes you gotta wear during winter makes it a turn off to try clothes.

and it has finally started snowing for real! it's really beautiful! and white. and cold. and fun! the snow transforms us into little kids rolling snowballs in the streets and throwing snow at each other. the feeling is indescribable! it's something that everyone looks forward to and it turns out better than what you have been expecting!

here are some photos of the past week !